


In Light and Darkness

by bugiiwonderland (orphan_account)



Series: Campfire Stories [1]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Characters & Additional Tags will be added in future chaps, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Rick Riordan Demigod Universe | Riordanverse, Set in Heroes of Olympus timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bugiiwonderland
Summary: “Eight half-bloods shall heed the call,Coin's golden key the Twins doth hold,Together, they shall prevail,Apart, shall face doom;To Light and Darkness, the world must fall,An oath to keep with final breath,And foes bear arms to Doors of Death.”Dongho sighed as soon as the new Oracle was done spouting her first prophecy. “Great, we’re going to save the world again.”Timeline is set in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series.
Relationships: Aaron Kwak | Aaron/Zhou Jie Qiong | Kyulkyung, Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR, Kang Dongho | Baekho & Zhou Jie Qiong | Kyulkyung
Series: Campfire Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767310
Comments: 34
Kudos: 32





	1. The Skeleton Warriors are avid fans of cuddle piles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oooh! Cuddle pile!” Xiyeon piped in, joining the accidental pile of two demigods and a god. The Skeleton Warriors paused in cheering and glanced at one another. The leader of the group, who had a badge of a General on his uniform, nodded, and in a split second, all stupidly jumped on Xiyeon, one by one, forming the world’s weirdest and tallest cuddle pile. 
> 
> “Oomph!” Apollo harrumphed, tapping out whoever demigod he was able to reach, as if he’s in a wrestling fight. 
> 
> “Dongho, stop moving!” Jonghyun yelled.
> 
> “It’s either I move or we let your skeletons squish Xiyeon!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Recco:[Apollo by Magic Man](https://open.spotify.com/track/7nFAVXIBZ6sIjFnSH0SGuk?si=cGNcS2fST-WiMurVr0TX8g)
> 
> Edited this chapter. sorry. :( I promise I won't touch this chap again :(((

_“Where the Zeus is Xiyeon!”_

Time seemed to have stopped in Camp Half-Blood as thunder adorned the sky. The fuming son of Hades glared at everyone, scaring the injured demigods that got in his way as he strode off to the Big House. Behind him, Dongho, the son of Poseidon, cursed, as he helped Aphrodite’s daughter, Pinky, fight off the skeleton warriors Jonghyun had conjured in his fury.

“Jonghyun, please calm down,” Minhyun, the son of Apollo, called out, hands raised in a placating manner trying to stop the furious demigod’s rampage. He didn’t really expect to see Jonghyun again, but apparently it didn’t matter for Hades’s son whether or not they meet again. All that mattered for Jonghyun was his mortal friend, and it was obvious, especially with that glare that he gave him. 

“Nice seeing you too, Jonghyun,” Minhyun bitterly murmured to himself as Hades’s son furiously stormed off. 

“So much for stopping him,” Aphrodite's daughter mocked.

“Did you see the death glare he gave me?” Minhyun bit back, narrowing his eyes at Pinky, before joining the two demigods in their battle against the warriors. “I don’t even know how I’m still alive.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll die soon, especially if Xiyeon is really with your father,” Dongho grumbled, kicking a skeleton warrior. “Jonghyun, can you fucking stop conjuring skeletons?!”

“No,” Jonghyun spat, before halting in place. In front of them stood the God of Light and Sun, Apollo, arm draped over Xiyeon’s shoulders, talking to her in a bubbly manner as they walked toward the Big House. 

“Oh gods, you’re really gonna die soon, Minhyun,” Pinky stated. 

“Look, it’s not my fault my dad chose Xiyeon as the next Ora—” Jonghyun gave him a death glare before furiously screaming his father’s name and running towards the Big House, his Skeleton Warriors right behind him. If the son of Hades could kill someone by simply yelling out his name, Minhyun was sure his father would already be dead. 

Pinky sighed as they watched Jonghyun tackle Apollo to the ground. “Not that I want to save your father, Minhyun, because we all know he deserves what's happening to him, but shouldn’t we stop Jonghyun? I doubt Zeus would appreciate a demigod tackling his least favorite son.”

Minhyun flinched as thunder cracked in the sky. He was sure that came from the King of Olympus himself. He sighed. 

He knew how Jonghyun was when he’s angry - the battle with the Titans and their demigod foes already proved how scary the son of Hades could be when he’s furious; but what he didn’t understand was why his father was letting the son of Hades do this to him. Sure, Jonghyun was one of the strongest demigods there is, and his father wasn’t really the best when it came to being scary and intimidating among the Olympians, but Apollo was still a god and Zeus’s most powerful son. Hell, the King of Olympus trusted Apollo so much that he bestowed the god with so much power compared to his siblings. 

So really, Minhyun wasn’t sure why his extremely powerful father was acting like this. Letting Jonghyun pin him to the ground, when he could easily turn the son of Hades into a piece of burnt toast with just a snap of his fingers.

There had to be something. Because, really that’s the only answer why his father was acting this way. 

“Ouch, that must’ve hurt,” Dongho grimaced, and Minhyun did the same, seeing his father hit his head on the rock. Okay, maybe Jonghyun could be a match for a god, after all.

“Uhm, about that suggestion,” Minhyun started, eyes never straying out of the fight. “Sorry, but I refuse,” Minhyun smiled warily. Pinky raised an eyebrow at him, and he flapped his hand in the air. “Uhm, as much as I love to stop Jonghyun, my healing powers are still needed in the camp, yeah?” He explained. Pinky cocked her head to the side, as if reading his emotions, then sighed. 

“Fine, Dongho, then,” Pinky sighed, turning to the scene before them. In front of them, the Skeleton Warriors have now circled Jonghyun and Apollo, hiding them from view. 

“Great. Thanks so much, Minhyun,” Dongho huffed dryly, before the daughter of Aphrodite pulled him toward the crowd of voiceless cheering Skeleton Warriors. Minhyun followed, careful not to be noticed by his whining father and the furious son of Hades. 

Once they reached the circle of warriors, Pinky pushed Dongho into the crowd. The son of Poseidon ungracefully tumbled his way through, landing on top of the son of Hades and squishing Apollo with his weight.

“Oooh! Cuddle pile!” Xiyeon piped in, joining the accidental pile of two demigods and a god. The Skeleton Warriors paused in cheering and glanced at one another. The leader of the group, who had a badge of a _General_ on his uniform, nodded, and in a split second, all stupidly jumped on Xiyeon, one by one, forming the world’s weirdest and tallest cuddle pile. 

A bunch of noises could be heard across the lawn of the Big House. Clicks of skeleton bones, Xiyeon’s giggling (bubbly and innocent as always), and Dongho cursing as he pushed Xiyeon safely out of the cuddle pile.

“Oomph!” Apollo harrumphed, tapping out whoever demigod he was able to reach, as if he’s in a wrestling fight. 

“Dongho, stop moving!” Jonghyun yelled.

“It’s either I move or we let your skeletons squish Xiyeon!”

“This will be the tallest cuddle pile ever!!!” Xiyeon squealed, doing her best to hold onto the son of Poseidon, who was still pushing her away.

“Oh gods,” Pinky muttered, helping Dongho and pulling Xiyeon out of the cuddle pile. Minhyun chuckled loudly, finally earning the attention of his father and Jonghyun.

“Son! Help me!”

Jonghyun glared at Minhyun in warning, stopping him before he could even take a step. “Try and help your father, Minhyun. I won’t think twice in throwing you both at the Fields of Punish—”

“What is happening here?!” Chiron shouted, voice booming with authority by the door of the Big House. The centaur stared dumbfoundedly at the at the gigantic pile of skeletons in front of him, then at Pinky, Minhyun, and Xiyeon.

“Chiron!” Apollo pleaded. “Some help, please?”

Chiron searched for the voice of the god, and sighed when he noticed Dongho, Jonghyun, and Apollo at the bottom of the pile. “Jonghyun, please order your Skeleton Warriors away.”

_“No.”_

“Sooner or later, Dongho wouldn’t be able to hold off your warriors' weight, and he’ll be squished. You wouldn’t want that, right?”

Jonghyun grumbled something along the lines of how he shouldn’t befriend useless demigods who couldn’t even protect themselves, then snapped his fingers. In an instant, the Skeleton Warriors jumped off the pile, forming a uniformed line, saluting the son of Hades respectfully before vanishing in the ground.

 _“Wow,”_ Apollo stared in awe. “You really are the strongest of Uncle Hades’s bunch, aren’t you?”

“And also the most temperamental,” Chiron sighed, nodding for Pinky and Minhyun to assist him as he pulled up Dongho.

Before Minhyun could reach out to help Jonghyun, the son of Hades pinned his father’s arms on each side. He felt the air around them turn cold, as frost started to coat the grass beneath them. A sign that Jonghyun was using his Underworldy powers again. He sighed. “Jonghyun, stop it.” 

_“No,”_ the son of Hades growled, glaring at the god below him. 

“Is it me, or the ground feels so icy all of a sudden?” Apollo asked, nervously glancing at Jonghyun, Minhyun, and Chiron.

“Jonghyun,” Chiron warned.

“Not until the God of Prophecy makes an oath on the River of Styx that Xiyeon won’t be the next Oracle,” Jonghyun spat.

Chiron sighed and pulled Jonghyun up, as Dongho, Pinky, and Minhyun helped the Sun God, and acted as the wall protecting him from Jonghyun, who would obviously attack the god at any moment.

“You of all people should know that whether Xiyeon would be the next Oracle or not, is not in Apollo’s decision or yours, Jonghyun.” 

“Hear, hear,” Apollo chimed, winking at Jonghyun and turning to Xiyeon. “So, what say you, Xiyeon? Your gift of Prophecy is both a gift and curse. Will you take this role?”

“ _NO!”_ Jonghyun stood in front of Xiyeon, as if he were some knight in shining armor. “She’s too young! We don’t even know if the curse has been lifted!”

“It’s been lifted, Oppa,” Xiyeon replied with a reassuring smile, placing a hand on Jonghyun’s arm. “I had a vision of your dad’s curse when you arrived here in Manhattan with him, and I assure you, it has been lifted. I saw myself sitting in a decked-out pad playing video games.”

Apollo nodded, walking closer to Chiron and Jonghyun, hand on his chin, pondering. “I love that idea . . .” he paused, realizing that Jonghyun was growling at him. Apollo smiled meekly at the son of Hades, before stopping next to Chiron. “And I have a place in mind where we could build that. You wouldn’t mind having a big purple curtain by the entrance, right? Oh! And torches by the walls! That would be mysteriously beautiful! I should ask the Hephaestus kids to install a home theatre for you.”

“Hell, no—” 

Chiron held Jonghyun by the shoulder and shook his head.

“It’s Xiyeon’s decision, Jonghyun,” the centaur reminded him, before turning to Xiyeon with a warm smile. “Creative ideas aside, like what the god Apollo said, the gift of Prophecy is both a gift and a curse. Are you sure you will take this role, Xiyeon?”

Xiyeon glanced at Jonghyun and smiled, before turning to Chiron and Apollo, who was nodding too enthusiastically at her. “Yes.”

“I bet it’s the games that made her say _yes_ ,” Dongho murmured under his breath. Minhyun and Pinky elbowed him, as Chiron stared at the son of Poseidon in warning.

Apollo took a step toward Xiyeon. This time, there’s no hint of the mischievousness and stupidity in his face. Instead, it was replaced with seriousness and an air of solemnity, like what a proper god of Olympus was supposed to be. “Do you accept the risks, child?”

Xiyeon nodded, “I do.”

“Then proceed,” the god said.

Xiyeon smiled at Jonghyun reassuringly and squeezed his hand. She then turned to Apollo and closed her eyes. “I, Park Xiyeon, accept this role of the Oracle of Delphi. I pledge myself to Apollo, God of Oracles. I open my eyes to the future and embrace the past. I accept the Spirit of Delphi, Voice of the Gods, Speaker of Riddles, Seer of Fate.”

As Xiyeon recited the oath, the Mist settled around her, thickening with each passing second. A green mist of smoke appeared by her feet, slowly making its way around her like a huge python; the next second, the doors of the Big House opened, showcasing the mummified Oracle of Delphi. A thick green column of smoke uncoiled from the mummy’s mouth and slithered down the stairs, curling affectionately around Xiyeon. The Oracle’s mummy crumbled, falling away until it was nothing but a pile of dust in an old tie-dyed dress, as the Mist enveloped Xiyeon in a protective column.

It felt like time had stopped for the demigods, as they stared at the thick smoke that was hiding Xiyeon. Then the smoke cleared, and Xiyeon collapsed on the ground. Jonghyun and Minhyun immediately rushed forward but Apollo stopped them with a wave of his hand.

“No moving. This is the most crucial part.”

“What’s going on?” Jonghyun demanded. “What is happening to her?”

“The Spirit of Delphi has entered Xiyeon.” Apollo studied Xiyeon with concern. “And it’s either the spirit takes hold of her, or it doesn’t.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Pinky asked.

“Five words,” Apollo said, counting them on his fingers. “That. Would. Be. Really. Bad.”

Jonghyun cursed, and before Minhyun could stop him from going to Xiyeon, Hades’s son had already reached her.

“Xiyeon-ah, Xiyeon-ah, please wake up,” Jonghyun pleaded, shaking her gently. He reached for the ground and tried to absorb any shadow or darkness around the area to save the new Oracle, but with Apollo next to him and his sunshine-y powers, Jonghyun wasn’t able to do anything. He turned to Minhyun, pleading with him. “I can feel her dying, save her, please—”

Minhyun knelt down and checked Xiyeon’s state: Her pulse was too slow and it felt like she was on the brink of life and death. He immediately turned to his father for help, but before he could even ask Apollo to heal her, Xiyeon’s eyes fluttered open. There was a lazy smile on her face as she stared at them—as if she wasn’t dying only seconds ago. “Hi, I’m back.”

“Are you okay?” Jonghyun asked worriedly, pushing Minhyun’s hand away and checking Xiyeon’s pulse. The Oracle nodded, and tried to sit up, but Jonghyun stopped her. “Xiyeon, your life aura, it almost faded completely. I felt you _dying_.”

“I know, but I’m all right, Oppa,” Xiyeon murmured, then glanced at the son of Apollo. “Please, help me up. I’m having visions and they’re very disorienting.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Minhyun asked this time, helping her stand. He had felt Xiyeon dying, too.

“She is, it’s just the initiation,” Apollo smiled at Xiyeon proudly, then turned to the rest with a proud beam, as if he had just been awarded with the Best Poet award from Olympus. “Lady and gentlemen, may I introduce the new Oracle of Delphi!”

“You’re kidding,” Pinky said.

Xiyeon managed a weak smile. “The God of Oracles wasn’t kidding, Pinky-unnie. I’m really the Oracle now. I knew this would happen even before, back when we’re all preparing for the Battle in Manhattan,” Xiyeon paused, then took a step closer to Jonghyun, and took his hand in hers. She squeezed the son of Hades’s hand, who looked more and more aghast with each passing moment. 

“Are you saying that you knew that you’ll be the Oracle back then?” Dongho asked, utterly shocked. 

Xiyeon grinned shyly. “Yes, like I said, I had a vision of myself in my future cave. I understood then why I was born with the gift of true sight. This has always been my fate. The only thing left to do was for me to take the oath.”

Xiyeon beamed at everyone, then turned to the son of Hades and smiled at him gently, hugging him tight. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you anything, Jonghyun-oppa. I know that you wouldn’t like it. But me being the Oracle doesn’t mean things will change. I’ll still be your Xiyeonnie and we could still go at the beach whenever you want to.” 

“Fine,” Jonghyun sighed and pulled away from the hug. He took Xiyeon’s hand, a worried expression still on his face. “If you feel anything out of the ordinary, tell me immediately, okay?”

Xiyeon nodded. “I will, Oppa. I promise on the River of Styx.”

“Good,” Jonghyun exhaled in relief, squeezing Xiyeon’s hand tight. “Good.” 

“Uhm, not to ruin the moment,” Dongho started, clearing his throat. “So, does this mean Xiyeon can tell the future now?”

“Yup, but not all the time,” Xiyeon said, pursing her lips. “Though there are visions, images, words in my mind, whenever someone asks me a question, I . . . Oh no—”

“It’s starting,” Apollo announced, with an excited beam.

Xiyeon doubled over as if someone had punched her. Then she stood up straight. Her dark brown eyes changed, glowing a serpent green hue. And when she spoke, her voice sounded so loud—as if ten Xiyeons were talking at once.

_“Eight half-bloods shall heed the call,  
Coin's golden key the Twins doth hold,  
Together, they shall prevail,   
Apart, shall face doom;  
To Light and Darkness, the world must fall,  
An oath to keep with final breath,  
And foes bear arms to Doors of Death.”  
_

At the last word, Xiyeon collapsed. Minhyun caught her and immediately checked her pulse, sighing in relief when he found that it’s normal. When he looked closely at the new Oracle, he noticed that she looked so out of it. “Are you okay?” 

Xiyeon took time to understand Minhyun’s question, then nodded. “I feel fine?” 

“What was that?” Dongho asked, his tone bitter. “Don’t tell me we’re going to save the world again when we just finished the war with the titans!” 

Xiyeon turned to the son of Poseidon, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“You just said the next Great Prophecy, Xiyeonnie,” Apollo beamed, turning to the others. “Amazing, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, until she started spouting about our doom again,” Dongho grumbled. 

Minhyun glanced up and saw Pinky staring at Jonghyun with a frown on her face. He turned to the son of Hades, and noticed that Jonghyun was too quiet and was staring at him in worry - a contrast to how he acted earlier when he’s all going overprotective towards Xiyeon. 

“But . . .” Xiyeon frowned. “I don’t even remember what I said.”

“No, of course you won’t,” Apollo mused. “The spirit will only speak through you occasionally. The rest of the time, our dear Xiyeonnie will be much as she had always been. Bubbly, charming, and slightly snarky,” Apollo beamed, then turned to Chiron with a wry smile. The Centaur nodded and turned to Dongho who kept asking the new Oracle what the prophecy meant. 

“There’s no point in asking her, Dongho,” Chiron stated, using the smile that he always used to keep the demigods from their worries. “She won’t remember anything, even if she has just issued the next big prediction for the future of the world.”

“What?” Dongho said, “But we need to—”

“Wait,” Pinky interrupted, staring suspiciously at Chiron, Apollo, and Jonghyun. “You’re all hiding something, I can feel it—especially you, Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun flinched, then turned to Chiron, obviously bothered by something. The centaur gave Jonghyun a slight nod, telling him to go, before turning to Minhyun and helping Xiyeon stand up. 

_“Jonghyun,”_ Pinky repeated, pointedly looking at Jonghyun. The son of Hades squirmed in place and looked away, obviously avoiding her stare. At times like this, Pinky wished her charmspeak would work on Jonghyun. 

“I need to go,” Jonghyun murmured, glancing at Minhyun, “my father is calling me.”

“Go on, Jonghyun,” Apollo piped, waving his hand at Jonghyun in goodbye. “Send my regards to Uncle Hades.”

“Yeah, will do, Sir,” Jonghyun shrugged absentmindedly, mind obviously somewhere else, as he agreed with the annoying sun god and even called him “Sir,” when not too long ago, said god was his mortal enemy.

“Take care then, son of Hades,” Apollo said, motioning at Dongho and ordering him to help Chiron to bring Xiyeon into the Big House.

“Stop,” Pinky ordered, using her charmspeak in full force and making Apollo, Chiron, Xiyeon, and the three demigods stop scrambling in place. “Nobody move.” She glared at the rest, then stopped at Jonghyun, pointing a finger at him. “Especially you.”

“Come on now, daughter of Aphrodite, Jonghyun is needed in the Underworld, delaying him would result—okay, brilliant Sun God shutting up now,” Apollo said, mimicking a hand zipping movement on his lips as Pinky glared at him. 

“You understand the meaning of Xiyeon’s prophecy, don’t you?” Pinky asked, staring at Jonghyun. The son of Hades turned to Chiron for help, and the centaur cleared his throat, about to say something, but Pinky pinned him with a glare. “Answer me while I’m still asking _nicely,_ Jonghyun, or so help me gods.”

Jonghyun groaned, then sighed, realizing that no one’s going to save him from Pinky’s wrath in case he ran away now. “Yeah, I understand the meaning of the prophecy, but not all.”

“What?!” Dongho screamed, dropping Xiyeon and making Chiron carry all of her weight. Chiron groaned. “Oops, sorry, sorry. It’s just, wow—”

“Shut up, Dongho. Tell us, Jonghyun,” Pinky ordered.

Jonghyun bit his lip, and stared at Minhyun before sighing. “The prophecy may or may have to do with me and my twin sister.”

“Your what?!” Minhyun screeched, making the three demigods and Xiyeon wince in pain, hands immediately covering their ears. “Oops, sorry.”

“No problemo kid, but we gotta control that screeching of yours, it’s deadly,” Apollo said proudly, patting his son on the shoulder. 

“Back to the topic,” Pinky turned to Jonghyun. “What are you saying about your twi—”

“Pinky,” Chiron interrupted, his voice obviously warning the daughter of Aphrodite. “Let’s continue this talk in the Rec Room, shall we?”

“Fine. Let’s go then,” Pinky answered, walking to Jonghyun and pulling him into the Big House. 

“Wait, can you . . .” Jonghyun glanced awkwardly at Minhyun, and Pinky huffed, understanding what he meant.

“Be inside in 5 mins, or so help me gods, I’ll charmspeak you into dancing Ayy Macarena for eternity,” Aphrodite’s daughter warned, before nodding for Minhyun to stay with Jonghyun. She then pushed Dongho who was helping Xiyeon to walk.

“Uhm, can we have some hot chocolate while we wait for those two, Chiron?” Dongho asked, looking over his shoulder.

“We shall! And even some pies, too!” Apollo piped, winking at his son and at Jonghyun. “Take your time and don’t forget to use protect—” 

“Apollo,” Chiron sighed, pushing the god into the big house. He took a glance at the two remaining demigods and smiled apologetically, before closing the door. 

Minhyun breathed out tiredly and glanced at Jonghyun, who was already staring at him. “What is it? I doubt you wanted to say ‘Hi’ to me, because you already used your death glare at me far too many times for that—”

“Do you want to run away with me, Minhyun-ah?” Jonghyun asked, cutting him off. He stared at the son of Hades, who looked so serious and at the same time so vulnerable.

“What’s wrong, Jonghyun?” he asked gently, reaching for his hand. Jonghyun gave him a pained look then clutched his hand tightly in his.

“Run away with me, Minhyun. Let’s stay in the Underworld, it’ll be safe there, I’m sure - my father, he’ll protect us so just—”

“Jonghyun,” he whispered, calming the obviously panicked demigod. He had never seen Jonghyun like this - vulnerable, weak, to the point that he was willing to seek for his father’s help. And obviously, the older demigod realized it too, that he immediately schooled back his expression to his usual detached composure. “Jonghyun, tell me what’s wrong—”

“Nothing,” Jonghyun replied coldly, back to his usual aloofness. “Just ignore what I said, Minhyun.”

And just like that, Hades’s son walked off, leaving him, just like how he did months ago.

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters mentioned (& their Abilities) & etc.
> 
> Apollo  
> ➢ God of Light & Sun, Prophecies, Oracles, Healing.  
> ➢ Son of Zeus, Minhyun’s father.
> 
> Chiron  
> ➢ Centaur & the Activities Director of Camp Half Blood
> 
> Jonghyun  
> ➢ Son of Hades  
> ➢ Demigod Abilities:  
> ■ Summoning Skeleton Warriors  
> ■ Cryokinesis (thermokinesis) - the ability to generate an aura of intense cold, making the temperature around him drop to freezing and manifest frost (mostly when he’s really angry).  
> ■ Life Aura - can sense life aura (lol)  
> ■ Umbrakinetic Healing - ability to heal one’s self and others using darkness and shadows.
> 
> Minhyun  
> ➢ Son of Apollo  
> ➢ Demigod Abilities:  
> ■ Vitakinesis - Ability to manipulate, modify, read a person's anatomy & state of health (by touch), as well as restore the injured to full health.  
> ■ Audiokinesis - Ability to make sharp whistle-like sound & screech painfully high that can temporarily stun his opponents, making them clutch their ears in confusion.
> 
> Dongho  
> ➢ Son of Poseidon  
> ➢ Demigod Abilities: TBA (lol)
> 
> Pinky  
> ➢ Daughter of Aphrodite  
> ➢ Demigod Abilities:  
> ■ Emotion Reading - can read/sense emotions of others  
> ■ Charmspeak - Ability to influence others with enhanced vocal persuasiveness.
> 
> Xiyeon  
> ➢ Mortal (& Jonghyun’s friend) & current Oracle.  
> ➢ Abilities:  
> ■ True/Clear sight - Ability to see through the Mist (camouflaged monsters, gods, titans, & other supernatural occurrence).  
> ■ (Gift of) Prophecy - ability that could see past, futures & destinies of others, and make prophecies.
> 
> Oracle of Delphi  
> ➢ Former Oracle  
> ➢ Speaker of the prophecies of Apollo  
> ➢ Was cursed by Hades due to the death of his wife (Jonghyun & his twin sister’s mother) and said that as long as his (Hades) children remain outcasts and he is forced to labor under her first Great Prophecy (the rise or fall of Olympus is by the hands of a child of the Big Three - Zeus, Poseidon, Hades), the spirit of the Oracle would never pass on to another host - the curse was lifted after the Battle of Manhattan (second Titan War), due to Jonghyun & his twin sister being acknowledged by Olympians & Demigods.
> 
> River of Styx  
> ➢ River in the Underworld  
> ➢ Oaths made by this river brings something worse than death to the Oath Bearer if not fulfilled.
> 
> **Every time someone mentions Zeus’ name (Esp in vain), there’ll be thunder/lightning 🤦🏻♀️


	2. Grover isn’t doing a great job of teaching the son of Dionysus proper demigod morals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You should have run away with me when I asked.” 
> 
> Jonghyun’s whisper was so low, Minhyun was sure only he heard it. He quickly glanced at the son of Hades, and found him looking dejected as he stared at the white board.
> 
> Minhyun chuckled tiredly and stared gloomily at the white board. “Yeah, I should have.”

“You should have run away with me when I asked.” 

Jonghyun’s whisper was so low, Minhyun was sure only he heard it. He quickly glanced at the son of Hades, and found him looking dejected as he stared at the white board. In front of it stood Pinky, writing Xiyeon’s prophecy, along with anecdotes about the two demigod camps.

Minhyun chuckled tiredly. “Yeah, I should have.” 

To be honest, a part of him regretted not running away with Jonghyun to the Underworld when the older demigod had asked. Especially after with what happened to his father. 

“So, let me get this straight, Jonghyun,” Aaron, the head of the Hephaestus cabin, said, pointing at the anecdote that Pinky had written. “You have a twin sister, and your father, the Lord of the Underworld, bore the two of you by—shit, what the hell was that again?” 

“By being his Greek and Roman God self, selves, whichever,” Jonghyun answered tiredly. 

“Again, how the Hades is that even possible?” Seungcheol, the mischievous head of the Hermes cabin, gasped-whispered. 

“Maybe he used Mom’s enchanted crops,” Jeonghan, the head of Demeter’s cabin, sassily offered. Next to him, Johnny, the questionable head of Dionysus cabin, shook his head. 

“No, I think Jonghyun’s father was drunk.”

Minhyun heard Jonghyun snort at the two demigods’ comments, and he couldn’t help but do the same. At least the two could still joke about this—unlike them, who had been traumatized by what they had witnessed earlier.

Right after Apollo told them the reason why there were two camps—each camp symbolized one of two sides of the gods: their Greek and Roman sides—he then went on to explain why the gods themselves hid this fact from their children—rather, he accidentally demonstrated the scary reason why.

At first, Minhyun thought it was all part of his father’s explanation, and even found it funny, especially because his father was so big on dramatics. Then things started to become frightening. 

Witnessing his father, Apollo, battling against his Roman self was one hell of a ride. His father, who was normally laid back, kept turning into a stern-looking version of himself. He would then shift back to his normal bubbly and vain self, and again become military-like, then poof!, morph into his haiku-poet dad, and snap!, back to the war-like Apollo all over again. Minhyun couldn’t even imagine how the Roman Apollo was also his father—and that scared the shit out of him.

Even when Chiron tried to help—doing his best to calm Apollo as he sporadically kept changing between his Greek and Roman selves, growling and pleading for Chiron to help him—it wasn’t enough. What’s worse was the terror-stricken look on Apollo’s face before he disappeared in front of them.

It was only then that the three of them (minus Jonghyun—who knew what would happen if the camps met) truly realized how big of a problem they were about to face.

Then add to that was Xiyeon. The new oracle suddenly gasped, horror all over her face, as she told them: _“The King of Gods has closed Olympus.”_

Minhyun remembered the panic in Pinky’s and Dongho’s eyes. Hell, even Jonghyun, who wasn’t afraid of anything and was ready to kill Apollo that day, not only looked shaken but frightened, too. So guess how he, a demigod who couldn’t even aim well when shooting an arrow, who only had his healing powers and deathly screeching and whistling, felt about everything?

Scared as hell, of course.

He didn’t know what to do. Their godly-parents, who didn't help them much unless they’re one step away from dying, had just closed their doors. A new war was looming ahead of them, just after they barely survived a previous one. And of course, it’s them—the demigods—who had to save the world again.

Great. They were so fucked.

“Okay, done. Let's try deciphering the Great Prophecy again - this time, sentence by sentence,” Pinky decided, finishing writing everything. Minhyun and the six other demigods in the rec room groaned. The daughter of Aphrodite rolled her eyes, tapping the marker at the to white board. 

“So let’s start with the first two lines since it’s connected: _Eight half-bloods shall heed the call, Coin's golden key the Twins doth hold._ ” Pinky paused and checked if everyone was listening to her. “With what Jonghyun had told us, it’s obvious that the twins in the prophecy are talking about them. That leaves us with six more demigods to identify, which may or may not be here in Camp Half-Blood.” She paused again, and stared at the board, her usual smiling and bubbly expression replaced with a worried frown as she read the prophecy again. “As for the next two lines: _Together, they shall prevail, Apart, shall face doom_ ,” Pinky read, pointing to the words using the marker. “I believe this means the two camps need to team up and work together or we’ll all . . .”

Pinky didn’t need to finish her sentence for them to know what she meant. It’s already an obvious fact that if they couldn’t figure out the prophecy, they’d all die. And not just them, the demigods, but every living thing on earth.

“Great,” Dongho commented grimly, twirling the water from his glass in the air with his demigod abilities. 

On a normal day, Minhyun would counter Dongho, and cheer and motivate everyone up. But with what Jonghyun had told them, getting the Roman demigods to work with them would be hard—even with Jonghyun’s twin sister’s help. Minhyun didn’t have the energy, nor the mindset to look at the bright side.

His father’s Roman God side already showed him that getting the help of the Roman demigods wouldn’t be easy. And with what Chiron had explained, well, it didn’t look good too. What they witnessed with Apollo was just a glimpse, and the three of them took in the matter more calmly, because they had his father, Chiron, and Jonghyun explaining everything else that they needed to know. But, of course that may not be the case for the Roman campers and their too-strict beliefs.

So yeah, Minhyun was definitely joining Dongho in the grim and gloomy bus.

“Okay, next one: _To Light or Darkness, the world must fall._ Any ideas, guys?” Pinky asked, looking at them.

“It’s obviously talking about the children of Apollo and Hades,” Jeonghan answered.

“What makes you so sure that it’s them?” Johnny asked, making everyone turn to Demeter’s son.

“Well, there are no other gods who symbolize those two,” Jeonghan replied matter-of-factly. 

Minhyun glanced at Jonghyun and found him staring far away, hands clenched into fists. When he nudged him, Jonghyun glared angrily at first, then offered a tired, apologetic smile when he realized what he had done. 

“It’ll be okay,” Minhyun mouthed. 

Jonghyun sighed, turning to the white board again. “I hope you’re right.” 

“Jeonghan has a point,” Aaron agreed, breaking the silence in the room. He glanced at the sons of Apollo and Hades sitting across from him. “But how do we know that it’s these two, and not the Roman demigods?”

“It’s us,” Jonghyun answered with a sigh. “I don’t know which Apollo child it is, but I’m sure it’s me, not my sister.”

“Because . . . ?” Pinky asked. The son of Hades didn’t answer, but went back staring far away. 

Then something happened. 

It was like a flash of lightning. Minhyun watched as Pinky clutched the corner of the table, even as Jonghyun remained composed next to him. But he felt it—the surge of power from Jonghyun, as Pinky stared at Jonghyun in pain as if he was torturing her. Minhyun immediately reached for Jonghyun’s hand and gripped it tightly. 

And then it stopped. 

Minhyun glanced at Pinky and saw that she was panting as she worriedly stared at Jonghyun. He didn’t need to be a child of Aphrodite to know that Pinky had felt Jonghyun’s emotions. It was all over her face—the look of pain, panic, then worry. Yet Jonghyun remained stoic, composed, his face not giving anything away. 

“Jonghyun . . . what the Hades was that?”

Jonghyun stared at Pinky vulnerably before schooling his expression back to his usual aloofness. “Nothing.”

“That’s not nothing—” 

“I said it’s nothing, Pinky,” Jonghyun repeated, tone as cold as ice as he stared at her. Aphrodite’s daughter opened and closed her mouth, obviously not buying it, but finally let it go. 

“What’s going on?” Aaron asked, confused. Pinky gave Jonghyun one final look before she faced Aaron and shrugged.

“Nothing,” she replied nonchalantly, and composed herself. “Anyway, let’s continue. Why do you think it’s you and not your sister, Jonghyun?”

“My sister is the daughter of Pluto, and not Hades,” Jonghyun answered tiredly, then sighed when he noticed nobody understood the difference. “Her powers are more of our father’s Roman side, like geokinesis, crimatakinesis, and so on . . .”

“But, you can do that too, right? Especially geokinesis,” Minhyun supplied. He remembered Jonghyun manipulating the ground, making it quake, when they were fighting with demigods that sided with the titans.

“Yeah, but my ability is nothing compared to hers.” 

“Wow,” Seungcheol, who also witnessed Jonghyun’s ability, gasped. “That’s . . .”

“Scary?” Jonghyun offered, but the tone of his voice obviously sounded sarcastic. 

“Amazing, actually,” Seungcheol beamed. “I became a big fan of yours since the Battle with the Titans because of that ability—and if your sister is more powerful than that, then I will switch my bias.” 

The look on Jonghyun’s face obviously said that he was taken by surprise, and Minhyun wanted to thank his friend for that—especially because Jonghyun had always thought that the other demigods think of him as a monster. Which wasn’t all true at all. Some actually like him, and while some were afraid of him, it was more because Jonghyun always glared at them. 

“Uh, yeah, sure, and thanks for thinking of us that way,” Jonghyun murmured. 

“No need to thank me for that, you’re really cool.You’re so cool that even though you left my bff,” Seungcheol grinned at the blushing son of Hades, then nodded his head towards Minhyun, “he still wanted you back, to the point that he pounded on your door the other day, and cried for almost—”

“CHOI SEUNGCHEOL.” Minhyun glared at his friend in warning, and then heard several snickers in the room, with Dongho being the loudest. 

“Oh come on, Minhyun. Everyone knew, I bet Jonghyun here knew too.”

“We don’t need to talk about that,” he answered, gritting his teeth. 

“Fine,” Seungcheol pouted, murmuring how he’s a no jam under his breath. 

“So, moving forward,” Pinky announced, clearing her throat, feeling guilty because it was because of her demigod abilities that that happened. “The last two sentences: _An oath to keep with final breath, And foes bear arms to Doors of Death._ Any idea what it means?”

“Like if we have any idea who’s gonna die?” the son of Poseidon offered bitterly.

 _“Dongho,”_ Pinky chastised, narrowing her eyes at the demigod. The son of Poseidon shrugged, making the daughter of Aphrodite sigh. “Let’s try to look at the bright side, shall we?”

“Yeah, because dying at a young age is everyone’s wish come true,” Aaron commented, and the demigods in the room groaned and looked more crestfallen than ever.

“We won’t die,” Pinky said, staring at Aaron. She reached for his hand and smiled at him reassuringly. “I promise we won’t die.”

“I hope you’re right,” Aaron replied with a sigh. 

“But just in case someone does die, that . . . that isn’t actually bad,” Johnny said, making everyone in the room glare at him. “I mean come on, if someone does, at least whoever it is, can keep Jonghyun company in the Underworld. That’s good, right?” Johnny explained. Jeonghan pinched the son of Dionysus on the arm, and the younger demigod yelped. “That hurt, Jeonghan!”

“Then shut up,” Jeonghan hissed, as Jonghyun mumbled curses under his breath.

“Let’s just focus on the prophecy,” Minhyun sighed, turning to the white board. Reading and deciphering the prophecy again, trying to see if there was any clue about the chosen child among his siblings. “Wait,” Minhyun said, remembering something he once read. He turned to Jonghyun, who was still grumbling curses and glaring at Johnny. “ _Doors of Death._ There’s a literal Doors of Death in the Underworld, right?” 

Jonghyun turned to Minhyun and frowned, trying to decide if he should be happy that Apollo’s son knew too much about the Underworld or if he should be worried and start burning Minhyun’s books before he learned more. “There is.”

“Is this good, or bad . . . ?” Aaron asked, staring at him warily.

“Mostly, bad. Especially for us demigods,” Jonghyun answered, looking away from Minhyun. “The Doors of Death is a passage to the Underworld like the magic elevator of Olympus. But unlike the one in Olympus, the Doors of Death changes its location every time, and the only one who knows where it is, is Thanatos.”

“The Reaper of Souls,” Jeonghan gasped.

“And also the God of Peaceful Death,” Jonghyun added.

“That’s hella comforting,” the son of Poseidon grumbled. 

Jonghyun narrowed his eyes at Dongho, and continued talking. “But, just to make things clear, the Doors of Death, though it acts as a fast passage for Thanatos to bring _whoever_ and _whichever_ into the Underworld, it also acts as a gate to make sure no one escapes. So, meaning, if we ever do need to get inside of that, we aren’t only going to face the dead. We have to face countless monsters, and the imprisoned Titans, and their children.”

“Great talk, Jonghyun,” Dongho clamped the son of Hades on the back. “That’s very encouraging!”

“Fuck off, Dongho.” 

“Language, please, son of Hades,” Chiron reprimanded, entering the room with Xiyeon. The demigods across from Minhyun moved, giving space for Chiron’s wheelchair. “I have bad news.”

“Uh-oh,” Johnny muttered sarcastically. 

The Centaur looked disapprovingly at the son of Dionysus, before turning to the son of Apollo. “I’m sorry, Minhyun, but Xiyeon is right, the doors of Olympus had been closed, and I can’t reach any god at all.”

“Great,” Minhyun groaned.

“Even my father?” Jonghyun asked worriedly. 

Chiron nodded. “Yes, even your father, Jonghyun. I can’t reach the Lord of the Underworld either.”

Jonghyun let out a garbled whine and buried his face in his hands. “We are really doomed.” 

“We been knew,” Dongho sighed, facing Chiron. “So, what are we going to do now? The only demigods that we know that are part of the Great Prophecy is Jonghyun and his twin sister.”

“And the child of Apollo,” Pinky reminded.

“Which, we need to look among Minhyun’s eleven siblings. Well, twelve, if we count him,” Aaron said, nodding to Minhyun.

“Great! Maybe we can do an interview,” Seungcheol piped, reaching for a pen and paper. “We can start with my bff, Minhyun, here.”

“Is he being serious?” Pinky asked. 

Jeonghan nodded next to her. “Believe me, he is.”

“I have an idea for the first question,” Johnny offered, smiling playfully at the son of Apollo.

Seungcheol nodded, pen ready to take down notes. “Okay, what is it?”

“Top or bottom?” 

Minhyun immediately blushed at Johnny’s indecent question. His fists clenched tightly into fists. Dongho and Aaron glanced knowingly at him, a weird smirk on their lips.

“Johnny!” Pinky yelled, face completely flushed, as Seungcheol and Jeonghan chuckled.

“What! I’m just curious,” Johnny said, hands raised up as if to prove he was innocent. “I mean, aren’t you guys curious, too?”

“No,” Jonghyun answered, glaring at Johnny with his signature death glare.

“Oh, well, at least I tried.”

“Next question,” Minhyun seethed, glaring at the problematic son of Dionysus.

“Wait, you haven't answered—”

“What’s a top and a bottom?” Xiyeon asked innocently, cutting Seungcheol off.

“Nothing you need to know, child,” Chiron said, awkwardly smiling at the innocent Oracle. The centaur then cleared his throat and stared at the demigods, in his professor mode, one by one. “Continuing with what Dongho had said, before we get somewhere else, the problem that we are facing right now is not knowing who the chosen child of Apollo is, and the other five chosen demigods are, correct?”

“Yes,” All eight demigods answered.

“Then, let’s begin solving the first problem: finding out who the chosen child of Apollo is,” Chiron said, smiling a fatherly smile at them.

“Uhm, do you want me to call my siblings in the infirmary?” Minhyun asked.

Chiron shook his head. “Later, if you fail to get a Quest from Xiyeon.”

“He—what?” Dongho asked, clearly fumbling with his words. 

“A Quest. The demigods here in Camp Half-Blood need to receive a prophecy in order to do a Quest, correct?” Chiron asked, and the demigods nodded. “We already have Jonghyun and his twin sister as two of the eight from the Great Prophecy, and as you have said, we need to find who the chosen child of Apollo is. So why not start with one who’s already here?”

“No,” Jonghyun growled, not caring even if it’s Chiron he’s talking with. “Call his siblings, it shouldn’t be Minhyun—”

Before the son of Hades could finish his sentence, the room glowed in an eerily serpent green shade, as Xiyeon’s feet rose from the floor, back in her Oracle persona. 

_“Eight demigods’ fates shall intertwine,_   
_With the fall of the champion,_   
_Light and Darkness shall merge._   
_Through fire and water, a warrior will be born._   
_Two shall meet their fate and lose their way,_   
_But with the magic of the witch and the charms of the dove,_   
_They shall find the right path again.”_

“Fuck,” Minhyun heard Jonghyun curse as Johnny’s loud clapping filled the room. 

“Whoa,” Johnny stood, clapping slowly at Xiyeon, who was now out of her stupor and blinking confusedly. “That was a-mazing—especially that part of losing their way and finding it again—that, that was marvelous!” 

“I told you to shut up, Johnny,” Jeonghan hissed, pulling Dionysus’s son down. He then turned to Minhyun and smiled apologetically at the other chosen demigods, all of which looked ashen. “So, uhm, I guess it’s you five, huh?”

“Obviously,” Dongho sighed, turning to the rest. “So we found the child of Apollo, we knew who this _son of Darkness_ is, and obviously, the three demigods in our camp are me, Pinky, and Aaron. So, minus Jonghyun’s sister, we only have to only look for the two demigods from the Roman camp.” 

“Actually, only one,” Jonghyun sighed, biting his lip in worry and staring at Minhyun, resigned. “I think I know who the Champion is.”

“And who is it?” 

“A good friend of mine,” Jonghyun distressfully answered Seungcheol.

“Okay, but lemme clear things up first, is your sister—my new bias—the witch?” Seungcheol warily asked, traumatized from his bad experience with a child of Hecate. Jonghyun sighed and nodded. Hermes’s son gasped, then turned to the new Oracle. “Well, I’m now really glad that I’m not part of this. Thanks, Xiyeon-ah!”

Xiyeon looked around, confused. “I said something?” 

“You did, child,” Chiron smiled at Xiyeon, turning to the son of Hephaestus, who obviously wasn’t looking good. “I guess it’s time to use the Argo II, again.”

“Obviously,” Aaron answered crestfallen, immediately reaching for Pinky's hand, who wasn’t looking good either. 

“It’ll be fine, hopefully, it’ll be fine,” Chiron whispered, obviously trying to convince himself as he stared at the five worriedly. “We’ll take our leave then. Seungcheol and Jeonghan, please take Xiyeon to the infirmary, so she can rest. And Johnny, it’s time for your demigod moral class with Grover.” 

“Ugh, I hate that boring class,” Johnny grumbled, standing and leaving the rec room, with Seongcheol, Jeonghan, and Xiyeon trailing behind. 

Chiron clamped a hand on Minhyun’s shoulder and smiled. “Good luck on your first quest, son of Apollo. Don’t doubt yourself.”

“What did he say?” Jonghyun asked with a frown once the door of the rec room closed shut.

“Nothing,” Minhyun shrugged.

Jonghyun looked at him, then sighed. “You’re now keeping secrets from me.”

Minhyun raised an annoyed eyebrow at Jonghyun, and cursed under his breath when he saw the son of Hades looking like a kick-puppy, as if he deserved to act like that at all. Then as if his mind sided with Jonghyun, he was filled with vivid memories of a dream - one that he hoped was actually real. 

With a sigh, he gave in and whispered, “he told me not to doubt myself.” 

Jonghyun reached for his hand, and gave it a tight squeeze. The son of Hades smiled gently at him. “He’s right, you know.” 

Minhyun really wanted to believe that, but with the four powerful demigods surrounding him, he was sure there’s nothing else he could do aside from the usual - heal someone who’s injured or deafened someone with his audiokinesis. 

“Hey,” Jonghyun tugged his hand, there’s a disapproving look on his face that reminded Minhyun of his mother whenever he doubted himself. “You’re doing it.”

Minhyun chuckled bitterly, then sighed. “Can’t help it.” 

“You can,” Jonghyun stated, voice determined. “Believe in yourself, Minhyun-ah.” Minhyun took a deep breath, then nodded. He heard Jonghyun murmur good as he squeezed his hand again. 

“Not to ruin you guys rekindling whatever you have, but can we start planning?” Dongho asked, obviously irritated, looking away from Aaron and Pinky’s intertwined hands, and staring at Jonghyun and him. 

“Yeah, sure, so where do we start?” he asked. 

“The Argo II,” Dongho replied, glaring back at Aaron. “What the hell is an Argo II and can you please let go of Pinky’s hand?” 

He and Jonghyun feigned laughter into a cough as they watched the scene before them: Pinky blushing pink, pulling her hand away from Aaron, while the two demigods on each side of her have their usual glaring contest. 

“I’m glad our relationship just consisted of you going MIA,” he murmured amusedly, mock-teasing Jonghyun. If he was expecting the older demigod to feel a tinge of guilt, he was in for a dissapointment. 

“Wait till you meet my sister,” Jonghyun snarkily replied before clearing his throat and kicking the legs of the table so that the two demigods would stop at their glaring contest. “So, Argo II? Is that the same ship that Jason and the Argonauts used?”

“Of course not,” Aaron rolled his eyes, “ours is a whole lot better.” 

“Wait, it’s a ship?” Dongho asked dumbfoundedly, all of his irritation with the son of Hephaestus forgotten. 

“Wow, Dongho, did you even listen to your Greek history class?” The son of Hephaestus mocked-pointed out, making Dongho blush. 

“Obviously not,” Pinky shook her head, standing and motioning for Aaron to follow him towards the white board. She reached for the marker, and gave it to Aaron, nodding for the son of Hephaestus to start explaining. 

Aaron took the marker, and immediately started drawing a trireme, filling the room with soft gliding sounds. “So, this is the Argo II, and with what Chiron had said, this is what we’ll use in our journey.”

“Great, we can sail in the seas then,” Dongho remarked, studying the illustration of the ship. 

“Not only the seas, but we could also fly it in the skies,” Aaron proudly quipped, tapping the marker on the board. 

“No, no flying - Zeus will have my head if I set foot in his boundaries.”

And at the mention of the Lord of the Sky’s name, thunder rumbled loudly as a bolt of lightning struck down one of the trees at the Strawberry Fields. 

“See!” Dongho panicky squealed, pointing at the tree as if that was supposed to be him. 

Minhyun sighed, zoning out, as Dongho and Aaron started arguing again while Pinky used her charmspeak to calm the two down. He glanced at Jonghyun, and noticed that he was already looking at him. He saw the look of worry and anguish in Jonghyun’s face, before it quickly vanished and was replaced by his usual composed self. 

“You’re doing it, again,” he murmured, squeezing Jonghyun’s hand. Hades’s son smiled sadly at him, and caressed his cheek. And this time, he saw the vulnerability in Jonghyun’s eyes. 

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” Jonghyun murmured. “It’s you, after all.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Index:
> 
> Demigod abilities that were mentioned:  
> ■ Geokinesis - the mental and/or physical ability to control and manipulate earth. Abilities can include earthquakes, fissures, rock slides, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or the ability to cause rocks to shoot up from the ground.
> 
> ■ Chrimatakinesis - the ability to control and manipulate precious metals, and gems.
> 
> ■ Emotion reading/Feeling - as what it says 😂
> 
> ■ Audiokinesis - Ability to make sharp whistle-like sound & screech painfully high that can temporarily stun his opponents, making them clutch their ears in confusion.
> 
> ■ Charmspeak - type of hypnotism or persuasion in which it allows the speaker to convince someone else to do or get whatever they want.
> 
> ■ Argo II - flying Greek trireme (war ship) that could also sail both on water and skies. It was built by the Hephaestus' cabin for the journey of the eight demigods of The Prophecy of Eight (Xiyeon’s prophecy in Chap 1).


	3. Couplets curses and an unwanted visit from Fred

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s highly unfair how doubtful you are of me, my _Dove_ , wasn’t me bringing you flowers and giving you my heart, not worthy enough to satisfy you, my _Love?”_ Jonghyun cursed internally as Minhyun doubled over in laughter, obviously enjoying his current state.
> 
> “That - that was gold and the cheesiest couplet that I have ever heard in my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unbeta’d, so please excuse the run-ons and errors 😂

_Temperamental, hot-headed, and a draconian._

Those were the words that people who knew him would describe him as.

And although Jonghyun hated being called like that, he couldn’t really disagree. Those descriptions of him were as fitting as his black stygian iron sword, one that came along with being a child of the Lord of the Underworld.

But you see, there’s always a reason why he was like that.

Especially in this type of situation. 

_“Again,”_ he barked, his voice lacked the hint of kindness that he usually would have for Apollo’s charming son. After all, he had been patient and lenient with Minhyun - something that everyone believed that he couldn’t be - but two weeks of still missing a target that wasn’t even moving? 

Even Chiron with his endless patience would be pissed. 

Minhyun was lucky that he didn’t go all Hades on him. If it’s his father, Hades, who was training Apollo’s son, he would have already been thrown into Tartarus long ago. 

Minhyun gave him a narrowed glare, and Jonghyun raised an eyebrow at the son of Apollo bossily. “What are you waiting for? I told you to do that again, didn’t I?”

“Sometimes, I really don’t understand what I like about you,” Minhyun grumbled, shoving an arrow on his bow.

“Good, that makes the two of us,” Jonghyun chuckled bitterly. Apollo’s son gave him a guilty look that said that’s not what he meant, and he shook his head, motioning for him to start again. The son of Apollo sighed, and hoisted his bow. Jonghyun only wished that this time, he would at least hit the target, even just once, at least that would make his butthurt heart feel a little bit better.

Damn, now he’s acting like some spoiled butthurt child. But, could you blame him? It’s not like what Minhyun said wasn’t true. He had no idea what the son of Apollo liked about him, especially when everyone who knew which godly parent he came from, avoided him as if he’s a plague - which was understandable really, because who would befriend a child of the Lord of the Underworld unless they have a death wish, right?

After all, that’s what he and his twin sister were - just a deadly weapon. That’s why their father locked them up and hid their existence, saving them until he could finally put them to good use. 

“I like you because you’re _you_ , you know,” Minhyun nonchalantly murmured, fixing his aim at the target. 

_Which was pretty stupid of you._ The smart part of him wanted to tell Minhyun. But the stupid part of him - the one who usually reigned over the smart one - told him to keep his mouth shut. After all, he’s lucky. 

He’s really lucky that Minhyun saw him like that. And that despite what he did, despite how he left Minhyun without even a word at all, and not explaining anything else aside from that dream visit of his, Apollo’s son still accepted him without any questions.

And a lot of times, he needed to remind himself that. Remind himself that it’s okay, that he should be grateful to what he has and to stop dwelling on how the other demigods, gods, and even monsters that frowned upon his existence.

Being accepted by Minhyun was far more than enough.

“I told you to straighten your back and not lean sideways,” He kindly reminded this time, standing behind the son of Apollo. He rested his hand above Minhyun’s waist, correcting his slouching back to a proper posture, as his hand trailed to his lower arm, guiding it to the right position. A light blush ran on Minhyun’s neck to his ears, and Jonghyun couldn’t help but smile a little at that as he stepped back. “There, try it.”

Jonghyun watched, then beamed proudly when Minhyun hit the target. He immediately schooled his expression into his strict trainer mode when the son of Apollo turned and faced him with the world’s most beautiful and brightest smile. “I did it, Jonghyun!”

And at that, he felt his composure faltered as his heart did somersaults. 

“Yeah, you did,” he smiled warmly at the giddy son of Apollo. He let Minhyun enjoy his accomplishment for a few, letting Apollo’s son belt out _We Are the Champion_ and bubbly stomp like a kid in the archery grounds as he walked towards the target. 

It was when he had taken a bite of the apple that was by the sidelines when Minhyun understood what he’ll be doing next. With a sly smile, Jonghyun took another bite. “Done celebrating?”

Minhyun frowned at him. “Hell, no.”

“Hell, _yes_ ,” he wickedly smiled, placing the apple on his head. He motioned for Minhyun to go back into stance; but of course, the son of Apollo, like what he already knew would do, shook his head and remained stubbornly standing in place.

“You’re not going to be my target practice, Jonghyun,” Minhyun hissed, gripping his bow tightly.

“Then we’ll be here until you change your mind,” He stated, not backing down, staring at the glaring son of Apollo with a mock-patient smile. 

“You’re really an ass, you know?”

“But isn’t that one of the reasons why you like me?” he teased. Minhyun blushed pink, and Jonghyun chuckled before nodding back to the blushing demigod before him. “But in all seriousness, your training won’t be done until you do this, Minhyun-ah. I’m sure your younger siblings already informed you that.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes, then smirked. Jonghyun didn’t like that smirk. That smirk meant doing something foolishly smart. 

Then it happened. Jonghyun saw a familiar flash of small orange orb then poof he was hit. 

Curse Apollo and his foolishly smart children. 

“Oh, my dearly beloved, why oh why would you use your couplets curse against me, your supposed to be lover?” Jonghyun groaned, cursing Minhyun and the sun god who gifted his son this cursed ability. 

“‘Supposed to be lover’?” Minhyun bit back a laugh and wiggled his eyebrows knowingly at the annoyed son of Hades. “I should have cursed you sooner to save myself from years of trying to decipher whatever relationship we have.” 

“It’s highly unfair how doubtful you are of me, my _Dove_ , wasn’t me bringing you flowers and giving you my heart, not worthy enough to satisfy you, my _Love_?” Jonghyun cursed internally as Minhyun doubled over in laughter, obviously enjoying his current state. 

“That - that was gold and the cheesiest couplet that I have ever heard in my life.”

Jonghyun gritted his teeth and bit his tongue hard, stopping himself to rebut with a bunch of rhyming couplets and embarrassed himself again. Closing his eyes, he pictured his least favorite and most blood-thirsty skeleton warrior, and summoned him with a snap of his fingers. If the son of Apollo wanted to play this kind of game, then he would too.

“Oh no, you didn’t,” Minhyun gaped in horror and Jonghyun grinned, pulling his stygian sword out of his belt and throwing it far away from him as the skeleton warrior aimed the tip of his sword on his neck. 

“Save me, dearly beloved, I still haven’t had my fill of the glorious french fry. Save me or forever suffer in Tartarus, as our love forever diminishes,” he groaned loudly - that couplet sucked, but his irritation was soon overpowered by pain, as the warrior deepened his sword at his neck, cutting his skin open. 

See? He wasn’t kidding when he said that this skeleton warrior was blood-thirsty, and by the look of panic on Minhyun’s face as he fumbled on his bow and arrow, he seemed to get that too. 

He only hoped Minhyun wouldn’t be too late or—

_Orange._

A blinding orange light.

That was the thing that he saw, then it was total darkness. 

Well, at least Minhyun could now use his bow and arrow to save himself. Though Jonghyun wasn’t sure if his father, the Lord of the Underworld, would approve of him stupidly dying from being shot by a flaming arrow.

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ 

_“Wake up, Jonghyun.”_

Jonghyun groaned, squinting. He raised his hand, shielding his eyes from the blinding brightness.

“Oops, sorry my bad,” The voice said. In an instant, the deathly bright glow, diminished. Jonghyun slowly opened his eyes, and saw Apollo standing over him with a warm and blinding smile, his long-boney fingers waving at him in greeting. “Hi, Jonghyun.”

 _“Apollo,”_ Jonghyun grunted, before sitting up. His attempt failed though as he felt shots of pain all over his body, making him lose his balance and fell face first on the ground. He tried standing up again, but just moving his arms took too much of his energy that he plopped ungracefully on the ground. “What. The. Zeus.”

“I really, _really,_ would appreciate it if you won’t use my father’s name in vain,” Apollo muttered, grimacing as lightning adored the sky. He then turned to Jonghyun and placed his hand on his head as the demigod below him cursed and squirmed in place. “Calm down, Jonghyun, I’m trying to heal you.”

“Then please do it gently and quickly,” He grumbled, gritting his teeth tight as he felt everything in his body hurting as if he was being pinned by large needles over and over again. He felt Apollo’s healing powers course through him, and he slowly relaxed.

“Then you shouldn’t have done that in the first place,” Apollo chastised kindly and patted the son of Hades’s head, before helping him up to stand. “Brave and stupid of you though, what will you do if your plan didn’t work?” 

“I’m sure it would,” he shrugged nonchalantly, feeling and checking his body. Apollo gave him a look that said he didn’t understand what he’s talking about, and Jonghyun sighed. “I mean, you’re his father, after all.”

The look of surprise on the god’s face obviously said that he wasn’t expecting to hear that from him - and to be honest, Jonghyun couldn’t blame him. Apollo and him didn’t have a nice history, and the last time they met - he was tackling the god on the ground and threatening him. 

But, all that personal hatred aside, Jonghyun wouldn’t lie and hide the fact that Apollo - even if he’s annoying - was a powerful god. And to be honest, he actually liked the sun god more than the other Olympians, at least Apollo cared for his children in his dramatic ways, but of course, Hermes was still his favorite god. 

Hermes, aside from his witty humor, was actually nice. The god even brought him and his sister McDonald's everytime he delivered something into the Underworld.

“Can you stop giving me that look?” he snapped, irritated at the way Apollo was beaming at him like he was some beautiful piece of Haiku. He heard the god murmur something along the lines of him being temperamental and Jonghyun rolled his eyes at that, checking his surroundings instead. 

_Shit_ , he wasn’t in Camp Half-Blood and there’s no sign of Minhyun anywhere. “Where’s your son?”

“Back in camp,” Apollo replied coolly, studying him.

“I need to get back, the skeleton warrior might still be there with him,” he frantically said, walking aimlessly that if not for Apollo immediately pulling him on his shirt, he would have fallen straight into the ocean. “What the fuck . . .”

“No cursing in my birth place, Jonghyun,” Apollo gently reprimanded him, pulling him back to safety. “And don’t worry, your blood-thirsty warrior was gone as soon as you passed out.”

“I passed out?” he asked, astounded, and at the same time, proud of Minhyun. 

“Yes,” Apollo studied him then hummed. “And thank you, by the way, I’m glad someone believes in my son, when he himself doesn’t.” The god smiled warmly before turning and facing the horizon before them. 

“He’ll realize that soon or I’ll just have to remind him again,” Jonghyun sighed, knowing how Minhyun was. He stood next to Apollo, and took in the mesmerizing scene in front of them, where an endless horizon of mountains and seas stood. _“Delos.”_

“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” Apollo whispered, seeming deep in thought.

Jonghyun nodded, “but why am I here . . ?”

“Because you impress me, son of Hades,” the god answered, “And I didn’t mean that with what you have done just today, but the last time, too.” Apollo chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. He glanced at the son of Hades who’s looking at him as if he just lost his mind, and truth be told, he may have, especially with the things that he had seen. With a smile, he offered his hand to the demigod.

“What’s this? A handshake of camaraderie?” Jonghyun asked sardonically.

Apollo dramatically rolled his eyes and took his hand, gripping it tight. “A gift. Though I doubt you’ll appreciate it,” Apollo added with a sigh. “Hold on tight and close your eyes, Jonghyun, I don’t think your father would like it if I blind you.”

“Wait, what—” Jonghyun didn’t even get to finish his sentence, because the next thing that happened, he was being swallowed by some fiery blinding light. He immediately closed his eyes, and then little by little, he could feel the light diminishing as he felt everything around him settled again.

“You can now open your eyes, Jonghyun, we’ve arrived,” Apollo said. 

It didn’t miss Jonghyun how the sun god sounded so serious. He opened his eyes and saw that they were standing in what looked to be a ruined mansion. 

Jonghyun frowned. The place felt familiar to him, but he just couldn’t put a finger on it. “Where are we?”

“Something you should remember soon,” Apollo replied, walking ahead, “This place came from your memory, Jonghyun, and I brought you here to repay your . . . reckless kindness?” 

“Wow, thank you,” Jonghyun sarcastically replied. The god chuckled mirthlessly, before reverting back to a serious expression, as they surveyed their surroundings. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Apollo whispered once they reached the entrance. “I could feel my roman side awakening again.”

“That scared the shit out of Minhyun, you know,” Jonghyun said, looking around. “I never saw him that shaken before, even during the battle with the Titans, when father and I arrived with an army of dead soldiers, he didn’t look that bad.” 

The Sun God softly chuckled, “I doubt he’ll be shaken by that grand entrance of yours, Jonghyun, and besides, Minhyun won’t ever be shaken out of fear by you. Your father, probably, but you?” The god shook his head in amusement, before freezing in place, arm raised to stop Jonghyun from moving.

“What the hell is that?” Jonghyun asked, standing on his heels to get a better look.

“Someone who shouldn’t be here,” Apollo whispered, then turned to Jonghyun with a very solemn expression. “Okay, first, Jonghyun, you know that this is a dream, right?” 

“It is?” Jonghyun asked, confused. He felt pain - almost close to dying, and Apollo healed him, so how the hell was this just a dream?

“It is, Minhyun shot his arrow straight at you that you felt everything even in this dream realm, but don’t worry, he’s currently healing you in the real world, and I healed you partially, too.”

“Glad to know,” Jonghyun muttered with a deep sigh.

The Sun God took a deep breath, worriedly glancing around, before turning back to Jonghyun and holding him on the shoulders. “Second, when I tell you to wake up, you have to wake up—whether you want to or not, you need to wake up and leave, do you understand?”

“And why the hell should I do that?”

“Because,” Apollo started, and the ground shook beneath them, “because you need to return alive.”

Before Jonghyun could even ask what the god meant by that, Apollo walked straight into the entrance and nodded for him to follow suit. A few steps across from them stood an empty pool with what seemed to be a spire on each end. The first one, the one closer to them, was a solid gigantic mass of earth and rock, so tall, its shape, resembling an upper body of a human.

Jonghyun was about to take a step forward to the spire, when he saw Apollo walking to the opposite side of the pool. Jonghyun reached for his sword, then cursed, realizing that of course, he wouldn’t have it with him. He dipped down low, and took the sharpest rock that he could find that’s enough to injure anyone in this dream realm if needed to. He walked to the other side of the pool, where the smaller spire was, and stood next to Apollo, who’s clenching his fists tight.

“Is everything—” Jonghyun paused, then stared at the sight in front of them. Inside the spire which looked more of a cage, stood a lady with a shawl, dressed in a black dress. Her features were wrinkled, but her face seemed oddly familiar. It was when the lady opened her large brown eyes, staring blankly ahead, that he realized who she was. “Hera?”

Apollo nodded, glaring at the Queen of Olympus. 

“What the hell happened?”

“Hera took matters in her own hands,” Apollo solemnly answered, voice cold and clipped. 

“What do you mean?” Jonghyun asked, lost in what the god was spouting about.

“Turn around, Jonghyun and you’ll know.”

Jonghyun turned and saw what looked to be a gigantic glass cage by the wall. Inside the foggy glass cage was a hunched human-like figure, and by the heavy movement of shoulders, it seemed that the figure inside was heaving, as if he was catching his breath. Jonghyun took a step closer, and as he approached, he saw the familiar bob of blonde hair, then that familiar sharp nose, and a chiseled jaw - one that he knew all too well. 

He immediately felt his body tense as realization hit him, then he was shaking as two powerful emotions reigned over him. That all Jonghyun could hear was the loud pounding of his heart as fear took over him then everything turned red, as anger seared through him, running into his veins - and eating him as he stared at his friend helplessly. 

_“Taeyong.”_ His voice trembled as he felt rage take over him. He could feel his powers inching out of his skin, oozing out of him without his control and freeing itself as he continued shaking like a ticking bomb about to explode. 

Then like a snap, he felt his uncontrollably powers were gone and all Jonghyun could feel was the hand pressed tightly on his shoulders. 

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly. He could feel tears trailing down his cheeks. There’s too many emotions reigning over him, trying to escape and he knew that if he doesn’t control it, someone would get affected. 

“Who did this to him,” he whispered through gritted teeth. Apollo squeezed his shoulder tight and Jonghyun heard the god sigh. 

“Someone powerful.” 

“Tell me,” he ordered as the ground shook again. He immediately opened his eyes and jumped towards the glass jar that his friend was imprisoned in, but like a ghost, his hand passed through Taeyong, making him unable to do anything. 

Jonghyun cursed and summoned all his demigod powers to his hands as he reached for Taeyong again. But of course, there’s no use. No matter how much power he summoned, his hand just passed through Taeyong as if he was made of air. 

“Stop it, Jonghyun,” Apollo gently reminded, pulling him away. “I told you that this is just a dream, remember?”

“Then what do you want me to do?! Watch him here to die?!” Jonghyun spat, glaring furiously at Apollo. 

“You of all know how dreams work. Stop wasting your energy, Jonghyun,” the god pulled him away from the cage as the ground continued to quake strongly. “You need to leave now, or you won’t be able to return here.”

“I just can’t leave—”

 _“You have to, Jonghyun,”_ Apollo bark-ordered. The sun god took a deep breath, then stared at him, and gave him a weak smile. And that scared Jonghyun. It wasn’t the usual bright bubbly smile of Apollo, this look was too worried, too helpless - that’s full of anguish and pain, one that Jonghyun was used to feeling. _“Leave and wake up now, Jonghyun.”_

And before Jonghyun could open his mouth, everything shifted around him, and the last thing that he heard was Apollo softly telling him: “Tell my son that I love him, will you?”

**_“JONGHYUN! WAKE UP!”_ **

Jonghyun lurched forward, gasping for air. He frantically looked around, hand already reaching for his sword and saw Minhyun sitting by his side, panting and obviously, catching his breath too.

“You’re back,” Minhyun murmured in between huffs of air, hugging him tight. “Thank gods you’re back.”

Jonghyun slowly took in Minhyun’s disheveled and gaunt appearance, and let go of his sword. He draped his hand over Minhyun’s back and glanced up at the darkened sky. 

“Stay still,” he murmured, holding onto Minhyun as his other hand reached for the ground, conjuring the darkness of the shadows around the archery and pulling it towards him so that he could heal Minhyun.

“What are you doing . . . ?” Minhyun asked, voice weak still breathless, watching as a trail of darkness slowly made its way toward them.

“Saving you,” Jonghyun whispered with a smile, before closing his eyes and channeling his abilities. He could still feel the strong energy from earlier that it didn’t take much of his energy to summon the darkness to him. He felt the energy of the shadows surge through him and he pushed it out, transferring it to Minhyun. Apollo’s son gasped loudly, feeling his powers run through him, then Minhyun relaxed, letting him slowly heal him. When Jonghyun felt Minhyun’s life aura returned back to normal, he leaned into his shoulder and sighed. “Never do that again, Minhyun, you almost killed yourself by draining your energy.”

“You know I don’t have any choice,” the son of Apollo whispered, hugging him tighter. “I can’t just watch you die.” 

“I know,” Jonghyun nodded and took a deep breath. He understood that, and like Minhyun, he would do the same thing. He closed his eyes and he felt like he was back in the dream. Actually, it wasn’t a dream - he was sure it was happening, especially now when he could feel Taeyong’s life aura slowly dissipating. “I need you to go with me, Minhyun-ah.” 

“Go where . . . ?” Minhyun asked, confused, pulling away slightly. 

“Wolf House,” he sighed, biting his lip in worry as he now remembered the place. Minhyun raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue. “Your father brought me there while I was passed out.”

“Is he alright?” Minhyun asked worriedly. 

“Hopefully,” he whispered with a wistful smile, reaching for Minhyun’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “He wanted me to tell you that he loves you.”

Jonghyun saw a sad and pained expression pass Minhyun’s face, before the demigod glanced down and nodded, biting his quivering lip. He pulled Minhyun in his arms, and gently patted him on the back. “He’ll be okay, Minhyun, I’m sure he’s okay.” 

“Okay,” Minhyun whispered, and Jonghyun tightened his hold as he felt him trembling. If he had any choice, he would bring Minhyun to the Underworld, and just make him stay there. But he knew it was too late for that. Chiron couldn’t even reach his father, and it was already a miracle that he met Apollo in a dream, and with that state of Hera? Imprisoned and obviously weakened? Leaving Minhyun here in camp wasn’t an option. 

There was nowhere safe for them. 

He just hoped that his sister would be safe in Camp Jupiter at least just for another day. 

“We need to leave soon, Minhyun-ah,” he whispered, glancing up at the sky. “We’re losing time.” 

“How soon is soon?”

“In an hour,” Jonghyun sighed and placed a kiss on Minhyun’s temple, before standing. “Pack everything that you need, especially ambrosia.”

“That fast?”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun answered solemnly, helping Minhyun to stand. “The _Champion_ needs us.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spare some baked sushi?


	4. Promises are meant to be broken (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I love you, did I tell you that before?” he whispered breathlessly, leaning his forehead against Minhyun’s. 
> 
> “If the dream  _ you _ that I had was really you, then you did,” Minhyun answered, just as breathless as him. 
> 
> “It was me,” he murmured, placing a kiss on Minhyun’s forehead. A bright smile immediately went into Minhyun’s face at his admission, and he couldn’t help but mimic the same smile.
> 
> If only time could stop, even for just a little bit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended listening:[If this is the last time by LANY](https://open.spotify.com/track/2ccNaerby1wXA993dY6XsR?si=tXWF9PVfSLKsnCM4nyfidg)
> 
> Fair warning: this is angsty compared to the last chap and a lot of talks about death.
> 
> Proudly, unbeta’d ✊ I’ve stopped being a perfectionist now! Congratulate me 😂

“Make sure she wouldn’t leave camp, okay?” Jonghyun said, gently patting Mrs. O’Leary’s fur. The hellhound let out a whimper, nudging his hand stubbornly with her nose, obviously disagreeing with his plan. He smiled warmly, and crouched down, hugging his pet hellhound tight. “I promise I’ll go there as soon as we’re done, but you need to go there first and protect our snobby and evil princess, okay?” 

Mrs. O’Leary whimpered again, but soon gave in and rigorously licked his face, telling him that he better keep his promise. “I will, I promise on the River of Styx that I’ll be there by sunrise.” 

He knew making an oath on the river was foolish of him, especially now when he had a gut feeling of what will happen to him soon. It’s capricious of him, and knowing that he was going to fail in fulfilling it, it was a very stupid move. Breaking an oath to the river meant immense suffering, far worse than dying itself.

But it’s not like he had any choice. And whatever happens he would still be in Camp Jupiter anyway. 

No matter what happens, he would be there. 

Dead or miraculously alive, he would be there. 

He’ll bring Taeyong and Minhyun there even if that would be the last thing he’ll do. 

Jonghyun heard the sound of footsteps approaching, and with a sad smile, he patted Mrs. O’Leary’s head before standing. “Go now, I’ll see you soon.” 

The hellhound nuzzled his hand one last time before running and disappearing into the darkness. 

Jonghyun could only hope that what he said would really come true. 

“Where is Mrs. O’Leary going?” Minhyun asked, staring at the place the hellhound was before it disappeared. 

“To my sister,” he replied, walking to where Minhyun was. 

“You still can’t get in touch with her?” 

“Sadly,” he answered with a sad smile, before reaching for Minhyun’s hand and intertwining it with his. He’s worried and if he’s being honest - he’s scared. 

Things were happening so fast, and with the prophecy already happening and how the air just screamed death, he knew his twin sister wouldn’t just sit still and stay in the safety of the Roman camp. Hell, his sister was probably planning what she should do by now. Especially when he, himself, could feel death looming so close to him and was ready to take him any second. 

And if he could feel that, he’s sure his sister could feel it too. After all, they’re both children of the Lord of the Underworld. And if he’s in his sister’s place—he would do the same. 

And that’s the problem. 

He couldn’t afford to have Doyeon do the same. Not when he’s still alive and neither when he’s dead. It was already bad enough that they lost their mother. He wouldn’t let anything happen to his sister, too. 

“Jonghyun . . . ?” 

He glanced up and saw the worry in Minhyun’s face. He gently squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. “Sorry, just thinking about some things . . .” 

Minhyun squeezed his hand, understanding what he was thinking about. Apollo’s son gave him a warm and comforting smile. It eased his worries, but at the same time, it pained him, too. 

Will he see this smile again?

Will he still feel Minhyun’s warm and soft hand in his once tonight ends?

There’s a lot of questions running in his mind and with every one of those—his fear and regrets grew bigger. And he wished he would stop feeling that way. He wished that he could be confident and tell himself that tonight wouldn’t be the last. 

That tomorrow, he’ll wake up and see Minhyun, Doyeon, and Taeyong smiling and laughing. 

But he knew that wouldn’t happen. 

Death couldn’t be cheated.

He let go of Minhyun’s hand and softly caressed his cheek. 

“We’ll be fine,” Minhyun murmured, leaning into his touch as he covered his hand with his. “I promise we’ll be at the Roman camp before the crack of dawn.” 

“We will be. I’ll make sure that we will,” he whispered, staring at Minhyun with a sad smile and memorizing every line and curve in his face. And It hurt. It pained him so much that he knew that this would be the last time and that he couldn’t do anything but savor what time was left. 

He felt so vulnerable, so powerless, and it hurt so much that all he could do was smile at Minhyun and pretend like everything’s okay as if he wasn’t crumbling. 

He wondered if this was how his father felt when he realized that his mother’s time was coming close. Did he also look at her with a smile? Caressed her cheek and acted all tough, as if the helplessness of the situation wasn’t killing him?

No, his father probably felt worse. After all, his father was a god and yet he couldn’t do anything, either.

“Stop staring at me as if this is the last time, Jonghyun,” Minhyun gently chastised, staring at him with a worried look. “I swear, this wouldn’t be the last time—we would be there tomorrow, alive and—” he didn’t let Minhyun finish his words and instead, cut him off with a kiss. 

It was soft and gentle as any kiss they’ve shared. But unlike the ones before, this was filled with Minhyun’s promises of tomorrows and his sorrowful goodbyes. 

“I love you, did I tell you that before?” he whispered breathlessly, leaning his forehead against Minhyun’s. 

“If the dream _you_ that I had was really you, then you did,” Minhyun answered, just as breathless as him. 

“It was me,” he whispered, placing a kiss on Minhyun’s forehead. A bright smile immediately went into Minhyun’s face at his admission, and he couldn’t help but mimic the same smile.

If only time could stop, even for just a little bit. 

But of course, it wouldn’t. Time never stopped in their favor. And he was reminded by that when he felt like someone punched him in the stomach—a painful reminder that time was ticking, and someone dear to him was dying with every second that passed. 

“We have to go now,” he whispered, summoning the darkness towards them. He felt Minhyun tense as the darkness came closer and he immediately held Minhyun by the waist, squeezing it gently and reassuringly. “Are you ready?”

Minhyun gulped and nodded as the darkness covered them. “I am.”

He smiled at Minhyun and leaned his forehead to his. “Then hold on tight, my dear _Dove,_ this will be a roller coaster ride.” 

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ 

The first thing that Jonghyun noticed once they arrived at the Wolf House was everything oddly, brightly glowed. Then he realized that it wasn’t the place that was glowing, but it was actually the demigod that was with him. 

And unfortunately, Minhyun realized that before him and was already panicking. 

“Minhyun-ah,” he calmly said, immediately summoning all the darkness in the Wolf House towards them and covering them for safety. “Minhyun, you have to calm down. It wouldn’t do you good if you panic—”

“How can I calm down when I’m glowing like a light bulb Jonghyun—no actually, I’m far worse than that—” Minhyun almost shrieked, staring at himself in panic as his body glowed brighter in what seemed to be a golden light as yellow and orange orbs danced around him. “I’m literally glowing like my dad.” 

He tried his best not to laugh at Minhyun’s predicament, but he just couldn’t help it. Especially when the son of Apollo looked so adorable as he swatted one of the sun-like orbs around him in despise. 

“This isn’t funny, Jonghyun—I am flashy like my dad, and I don't want to be flashy like my dad!” Minhyun hissed, glaring at him and was about to swat another orb but was stopped by his hand. 

“Okay, first, I’m sorry. I forgot to count the fact that you being the son of the God of Light and the Sun may or may have not adverse effects with shadow traveling,” he said apologetically, intertwining his hand with Minhyun’s.

“Second, I really need you to calm down because as you can see,” he paused and nodded towards the protective shadows that hovered idly around them. “The shadows that I have summoned to protect us aren’t working because your glowing powers and with you panicking, are fighting against it.” 

A look of understanding dawned on Minhyun’s face as he stared at the shadows around them. 

“Okay, I’ll calm down, I’ll be calming down,” Minhyun murmured like a mantra and closed his eyes, and Jonghyun watched as Minhyun’s glowing body and his sun-like orbs slowly started to lose their brightly glow. 

“You’re doing great, only a little bit more, _Sunshine,_ ” he said, rubbing comforting circles with his thumb on Minhyun’s hand—which was sadly reciprocated with a strong pinch on his hand. “I’m just trying to help!”

“You’re teasing me!” Minhyun hissed, squeezing his eyes shut again and focusing to calm down his glowing powers. 

“I am so not. I just called you with a perfect-fitting endearment,” he replied with a playful smile. He heard Minhyun mumble for him to shut up, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at that. 

He’ll really miss this. 

He’ll miss adorable and highly comedic moments like this that would make him forget the situation that they were in. 

Moments like this that reminded him that despite how everything felt like it was crumbling, that despite how his time was getting shorter and shorter with each passing second, that there’s still _this._

Dumb and happy moments that even death couldn’t take. 

“Am I still glowing . . . ?” Minhyun asked, slowly opening his eyes and checking himself. 

“In my eyes, you always glowed brightly,” he answered, smiling at Minhyun who rolled his eyes at him. “But to answer your question in the literal way, you’re not.” 

“Obviously,” Minhyun grunted, before looking around and taking in their surroundings. He felt Minhyun tensed next to him, and he immediately squeezed his hand. 

“Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, I just,” Minhyun paused and bit his lip. He could feel a tremendous surge of energy everywhere but he couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. “Do you feel that energy?”

Jonghyun grimly nodded, “Yeah, I do, and it got much more powerful than the last time that I was here.” He tugged Minhyun’s hand and pulled him to stand behind him as they began walking. 

“Where is it coming from?” 

“Everywhere and somewhere,” he murmured, glancing around the area and making sure that the shadows protecting them were intact. “The Wolf House itself reeks with indescribable tremendous energy and that’s why you can’t detect where exactly it is coming from, but the one that you’re feeling is coming from where Taeyong and Hera is . . .” he paused, stopping in place and reaching onto Minhyun’s waist to stop him from moving. 

Just a few steps away from them were large criss-crossed tree roots that seemed to be moving in a snail-pace on the ground. The movement was barely noticeable, and if it weren’t for the shadows that were moving in the same pace as the tree roots, Jonghyun wouldn’t notice it. 

“It’s moving, isn’t it?” Minhyun whispered, eyeing the roots. Jonghyun nodded and took a deep breath before summoning more shadows to protect them. He took a glance at the roots, and sure enough, it was still moving and coming closer to where they were. 

“We need to hurry, I don’t think we’ll still be alone soon,” He felt Minhyun nod behind him. as he reached for his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. 

“What do you think is it?” Minhyun asked in a whisper as they began walking again. 

Jonghyun studied the tree roots and noticed how different it was to normal ones. These were far too large and he was sure that it had a life of its own with powerful and at the same time, negative energy breathing life into it. It was nothing like his step grandmother, Demeter’s, weird and scary earthly abilities. 

“I’m not sure what it is, but I am sure it’s not part of Lupa’s—” Jonghyun paused as realization hit him. Of course this wasn’t part of Lupa’s savage training. Lupa wasn’t even here in the Wolf House when she should have been here in the first place. 

And her being gone was far too odd. Even if Lupa, the wolf goddess, was harsh and heartless to them with her ferocious training, she wouldn’t just let her students die in a helpless way.

She was, after all, a mother to all of them, too. 

And Jonghyun was sure that _if_ Lupa was here, she would probably scream at Taeyong to get his shit together and fight back to save himself. 

Unless . . .

. . . unless something monstrously powerful was here, one that even the powerfully skilled wolf goddess couldn’t beat.

“Jonghyun, the spire—the spire, it’s freaking moving,” Minhyun panically whispered. Jonghyun immediately glanced at the gigantic spire that was made of earth and rock and noticed how it was completely different from what he saw in his dream an hour ago. 

This time, the gigantic spire looked more humanoid—with the top looking like a large human head along with it’s long and wide body that resembled a heavy-set of shoulders, chest, and arms, that he was sure that could snap them into two if it swung their way. But the most alarming thing was that it was no longer halfway deep into the earth—it was almost standing, as if it was ready to flee any moment, and that what Minhyun said was right—it was moving. 

It was moving at a faster pace unlike the large tree roots that were circling around it. In fact, it seemed like the spire was getting it’s life from the tree roots and taking the energy from it. 

Jonghyun followed the trail of the tree roots that’s feeding the humanoid spire and noticed how it was connected to the smaller one—the one where Hera was imprisoned in and to Taeyong’s glass prison. 

_“Fuck,”_ he cursed, an alarm loudly rang in his mind as he put two and two together. “It’s a _Giant_ , Minhyun—we’re fighting a fucking Giant.”

“No, that’s not possible, they were gone—” He turned and faced Minhyun who looked so pale as if all the blood left his body. 

“Not if someone powerful is reviving them,” he answered as panic and fear hit him with every puzzle piece that went to their rightful places. 

The reason why as soon as Xiyeon took her role of being the Oracle, she made a prophecy that would start another war. 

Why Apollo was suffering from his Greek and Roman side when all along, it had always existed. 

Why Hera, the mercurial and selfish Queen of Olympus took matters in her own hands and made the impossible happen. 

And why Zeus, the King of the Gods controlled all the gods and closed Olympus. 

Jonghyun stared at the large tree roots and bit back a scream. He should have known. He should have seen all the signs. There’s only one person who could do this. Only one person who could scare the King of Olympus. 

_“Gaea,”_ he whispered, putting the last puzzle piece in its place. 

“No, she was gone—”

“She was never gone!” he snapped as fear clawed through him. He looked at Minhyun with anguish. He shouldn’t have brought him here. He should have left him at camp. “She was never gone, Minhyun, she was just in deep slumber and with these? With all of these,” he waved his hand in the air, “she’s awakening soon.” 

“But why now? Why choose to be awake now?” 

Jonghyun let out a loud and bitter laugh. The answer was so obvious, and it was them and the gods who caused it. 

“Gaea is a mother, Minhyun-ah, and we killed her most precious son, Kronos.” He answered bitterly, reminding Minhyun what happened not too long ago. 

Understanding dawned on the son of Apollo, and like Jonghyun, it was in the form of bitterness at how cruelly unjust everything was. “Kronos was a different case—we had no choice, he was going to kill us all.”

“Tell that to his mother who doesn’t seem to care whether we die or not,” he spat, walking to where Hera and Taeyong were. He heard Minhyun cursing under his breath before stopping next to him and with a sigh, he turned and faced Taeyong. “Let’s just stick to the plan first, get Taeyong out of that cage and heal him immediately and I’ll work on Hera. You brought Seungcheol’s lockpick, right?” he asked, glancing at Minhyun who looked as if he was debating whether he should just take his hand and run far away from here or save his obviously dying friend. 

He reached for Minhyun’s hand and squeezed it tight. “We have to do this, Minhyun-ah. Even if Taeyong isn’t my friend, you know we don’t have any choice but to save him. We shouldn’t let another person die.” 

Minhyun sighed. “I have no plans of abandoning him anyway.” The son of Apollo answered, and Jonghyun noticed the slight bitterness in his voice, hurt by what he said. 

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” he whispered, staring at Minhyun. Apollo’s son took a glance at him then took a deep breath. 

“I know,” Minhyun answered with a tired smile before reaching into his pocket and giving Jonghyun a swiss knife. “Aaron told me to give this to you.”

“Seriously?” Jonghyun eyed the small swiss knife and snorted. 

“Yeah, no idea how that would be useful, but apparently that came from his father to save her.” 

“I doubt I could free her with this, let alone save her,” Jonghyun sighed and glanced towards Hera, who remained unconscious. 

“You will, don’t worry. You’re Kim Jonghyun after all.” Minhyun smiled at him before glancing back to Taeyong’s cage. With a sigh, the son of Apollo squeezed his hand, and motioned for him to start working on their individual tasks. 

“Hey, no matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you, okay?” he said, staring longingly at Minhyun before letting his hand go. Apollo’s son stared at him with a pained look, before reverting it into a forced bright and warm smile.

One that he would surely miss.

“I love you too, Jonghyun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew 😅 this took three frustrating weeks to finish, and weirdly it was far different from the copy-copy-copy-revised-wip version (I kid you not, this chap had a lot of copies and versions) that I shared hours ago with KP 😂
> 
> I learned a lot by working on the revisions on this chapter.  
> One - if the writing juice isn’t coming out and writing becomes frustrating, leave the gdoc and let it rest.  
> Two - accept the fact that words and pacing wouldn’t come out as fluidly as the other chaps.  
> Three - /STOP/ being a freaking /PERFECTIONIST/ and admit that there are (a lot of) times that it wouldn’t be perfect as what you wanted it to be.  
> Four - repeat #3 until it sinks and pat yourself in the shoulder and say: “you’ve done well, churning out words is already a feat on it’s own.”  
> Five - accept #4 and stop seeing it as defeat but instead, look at it as if you’ve won and celebrate.
> 
> ^^and with these things that I learned, I came up with this beautiful chapter, which I had to cut into two parts because it got too long (amazing, right?)
> 
> This final version wasn’t the same as what I had in mind when I started revising this chap (with all the angsty scenes that I had in mind) but this, this is far better than that, and I couldn’t be any happier and satisfied. ❤️
> 
> I want to thank my friends who always held my hand and supported and comforted me with sweet and tough mclovin ❤️
> 
> And to all the writers and readers who are going in the same slump that I went through, I know taking it easy is hard, but also know that you are doing great already 🤗
> 
> And with that, the index (HAHAHAHHAHA) which just contained Lupa (Google Gaea guys, I ain’t dropping spoilers on who she is)
> 
> So Lupa - she is a wolf goddess who trains Roman campers and tests them in the ways of Rome (as Wiki Fandom said) - meaning, it’s strict, militaristic, cold-hearted and shit. Well her motto is: “Conquer or Die”, so if you didn’t pass the training... well..... 
> 
> And onto the part 2 of this chap, if you’re looking forward to read the next one soon, I’m sorry to let you down 😂 it wouldn’t be posted anytime soon as I’ve decided to finish atleast two chaps after this before posting the next 🥺 so, I’m sorry, it would probably be late again 🤦🏻♀️
> 
> Anyhoo, that’s all. Hoped you love this chapter as much as I love it ❤️


	5. Promises were meant to be broken (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gods, Doyeon, can you please stay still?” Mingi groaned, massaging his temple off from the migraine he was suffering from. His co-centurion ignored him, and instead continued to frantically pace, mumbling words that Mingi was sure was Italian. 
> 
> Groaning, he jumped down from Hannibal, and held Doyeon in place. “Stop it, it’s not like someone died and even Hannibal is getting dizzy—”
> 
>  _“Nicolai,”_ Doyeon murmured, freezing in place. “It’s Nicolai."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommended listening:[Charriot by Jacob Lee](https://open.spotify.com/track/7vyQwt3xnZccpLDtj0X45b?si=XBNNciWSSoOmdneI2rPq2g)
> 
> PS: This is quite angsty, but not too angsty (I think)

“Gods, Doyeon, can you please stay still?” Mingi groaned, massaging his temple off from the migraine he was suffering from. His co-centurion ignored him, and instead continued to frantically pace, mumbling words that Mingi was sure was Italian. 

Groaning, he jumped down from Hannibal, and held Doyeon in place. “Stop it, it’s not like someone died and even Hannibal is getting dizzy—”

 _“Nicolai,”_ Doyeon murmured, freezing in place. “It’s Nicolai."

Mingi stared at Doyeon, confused, and was about to ask what she meant by that but was stopped when a large monstrous creature appeared between them. He immediately reached for his arrows and was about to attack when Doyeon kneeled on the ground, hand immediately reaching for the monster.

“Are you out of your mind?” Mingi hissed, pulling Doyeon’s hand away. The daughter of Pluto glared at him and pulled her hand, reaching for the monstrous creature that was billowing with black smoke as it laid unconscious on the ground. “Kim Doyeon, I swear—”

“It’s Mrs. O’Leary,” Doyeon snapped, pushing her powers out. “Nicolai’s companion.”

Mingi stared at the creature who was now looking more and more like a gigantic dog rather than some monster, then glanced back at Doyeon. 

And then it hit him. 

The creature was a hellhound and the Nicolai that Doyeon had been blabbing about was . . . 

“Nicolai . . . do you mean Jonghyun . . ? your twin brother?” Mingi wasn’t close with Doyeon’s brother because the ambassador of Pluto was often not around. And when he was, he would just stick with Doyeon. Though Mingi had a feeling that maybe it was because he was always with Taeyong, the second praetor in their camp, because when he wasn’t with him, Doyeon’s twin brother would approach him. Talk to him about random things, like their shared affinity on the game Mythomagic, and would even advise him on battle techniques. 

Mingi once asked Doyeon about that, if his brother and the praetor had some mishap before, since he often saw Taeyong watching the ambassador as if he was torn between approaching him or not. Doyeon laughed at him back then and even told him that his imagination was going wild yet again. 

Mingi beg to differ though. He was sure that his imagination wasn’t running _‘wild’_ and that Doyeon was lying to him. He saw the same kind of look on the ambassador’s face whenever he saw Taeyong. Though unlike the praetor, Jonghyun would often look at Taeyong melancholically, and at times, even guilty - as if he had done something so bad. 

“Yes, it’s my twin brother.” Doyeon answered, stirring Mingi away from his thoughts. He glanced back at Doyeon and saw that she was shaking, her hands were clenched into fists as if she was in deep pain. 

Mingi wanted to ask what exactly was the matter, but by the look on her face, that screamed: _fear,_ he already had a feeling that Doyeon’s brother was in immediate danger. He kneeled down and held Doyeon’s hand. “Do you know where he is?” 

“I don’t. I-I can’t sense him much and all I get are flickers.” Doyeon bit her lip, stopping herself from crying. She looked up at Mingi and gripped his hand. “Nicolai—Jonghyun, has always been good at masking himself, and I’m scared that I would fully sense him when he’s . . .”

“It’s okay, I’m sure he’s okay,” he murmured, pulling Doyeon in his arms and rubbing circles on her back. He let his co-centurion cry on his shoulders and continued rubbing her back as he formulated a plan. Doyeon said that Jonghyun was masking himself - meaning, the ambassador might have planned this in advance that so his sister wouldn’t be able to locate him. But then, why did he send his hellhound here? Exactly at the gates of New Rome as if he was sure that Doyeon would be here?

Mingi glanced down on the hellhound that was looking normal - well, as normal as any sleeping gigantic dog on earth - and noticed that there’s a piece of paper wrapped around it’s collar. He reached down, plucking the paper, and paled when he read its contents. 

**_It’s unfolding, Nicoletta. Stay in camp. I’ll bring the Champion there before dawn._ **

**_-Nicolai_ **

_The Champion._

Mingi remembered overhearing the two siblings arguing about this. It was just before they headed to Mount Othrys to fight off the titan Krios and his army of demigods and dracanae. He remembered hiding behind the column in their barracks as the siblings continued their hushed fight. It was one sided though, with Doyeon angrily telling her brother not to go and instead, to fight with them; while Jonghyun, on the other hand, remained stoic, and just stared far ahead - that is until Taeyong appeared. 

_“Why are you so fixated on making me stay here? Even without me, you have a legion of powerful demigods and legacies, and that’s not even counting you, another powerful demigod.” The ambassador stated, staring at the Praetor’s back before he faced his sister with an angry expression. “And if that’s not enough for you, let me remind you that you have the Champion here, the son of Jupiter, himself.”_

“Doyeon,” Mingi murmured, putting two and two together. “Is Taeyong the champion?” He felt Doyeon turn rigid in his arms and he took that as confirmation. _Good._ Now all they needed to do was find out how to locate their missing praetor - which was quite hard. They had been relentlessly searching for the praetor for weeks using their abilities and even with the help of Doyeon's ability on sensing metals - like Taeyong’s _IVLIVS_ or his gladius - they still couldn’t find a trace of him. 

It was as if Taeyong didn’t exist in the first place. 

Or maybe, they’ve just been searching for him blindly and haven't really used the most of their abilities because they’re scared to find out the truth. 

That their praetor was gone and would never return. 

But if that’s really the case, then Doyeon would have known and she would have told them. Unless . . . 

“Doyeon, you’re not keeping secrets from me, right?” He asked, glancing down at Doyeon. He slightly pulled away and stared straight to his best friend who was looking anywhere but him. 

“Like . . ?” 

_Of course, she was._ He already had a feeling about that. Mingi tried not to feel betrayed by that. “Like for example, our missing praetor’s death.” He saw a relief pass by Doyeon’s face before she shook her head.

“No, he’s still alive, and I would feel it if he’s gone.” Doyeon answered, looking straight at Mingi and confused where he was going with this. “But why are you suddenly asking?”

Mingi pursed his lips in thought. Doyeon could sense when her brother’s life was in danger, and he was sure she could she sense others as well.

“I think I have an idea how to find your brother.” Doyeon stared blankly at him, then nodded for him to continue. He smiled at Doyeon reassuringly and gave her the ambassador’s letter. “I saw that on the hellhound’s collar. You know what that means, right?” 

The color on Doyeon’s face drained as she read her brother’s message. Mingi watched in silence, squeezing Doyeon’s hand every now and then reassuringly before his best friend looked up at him. It was a painful sight - seeing the look of anguish and fear in Doyeon’s face, that even if he wanted to ask what the letter truly means, and the most important fact: what the hell was unfolding, he remained mum, and instead focused on the matter at hand. 

“Let’s deal with the other things later, Doyeon-ah. First, you need to track our praetor. Can you sense his life aura?”

Doyeon closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Mingi knew that Doyeon never liked this ability of hers. She once told him that using it was like searching for a needle in a torned haystack. Meaning, it was hard, and at the same time - painful, as she would feel the pain of whoever life force she’ll come through once she opened her senses. 

Mingi also remembered how Doyeon was so bitter about it. Because apparently, her brother doesn’t suffer like her when he was using that ability. Mingi curiously asked why it was like that, noticing that even when the two were twins - their abilities were somehow different. That Doyeon’s powers and abilities were more of geokinesis and magic; while her twin brother’s forte was necromancy and umbrakinesis.

Doyeon shrugged and answered him back then that she didn’t know. But now, Mingi had a feeling that it was one of her secrets. He always knew that Doyeon had a lot of secrets, hell, not only her, but her brother as well. They carried it everyday like a backpack, and with each passing time, Mingi noticed how it was getting heavier and heavier, and taking a toll on them. 

Mingi hoped that one day, he could help lessen that. That Doyeon would trust him and unload the burden that she was carrying. After all, Doyeon was his best friend. She was the first demigod who welcomed him and never looked down on him for being such a weakling. She stood with him and held his hand when everyone laughed and mocked him on how he was still unclaimed and being ignored by his godly father. And for that, Mingi had always been thankful for having a friend like Doyeon, and will always be grateful for her. To the point that he was willing to do anything to help her.

“I found him,” Doyeon muttered, gripping his hand tight. “But it’s not good. Taeyong . . . he’s _dying.”_ Doyeon paused, feeling their praetor’s pain. Mingi squeezed her hand and nodded. “And not only that, something powerful is around him, worse than death itself.” 

“Let’s go, then.” 

Doyeon looked at him frantically and shook her head. “No, you can’t. You need to stay here or else—”

“I don’t care, Doyeon-ah,” he said, standing up. He saw something whooshed on the shadows far away, and Mingi knew that their ride would arrive in a matter of seconds. “I’ll be going wherever you are going, and I think our company will say the same thing.”

And as if on cue, Arion, the immortal equine, the son of the gods Ceres and Neptune arrived, scaring the shit out of Hannibal. 

Arion neighed indignantly at the horrified camp elephant, and Mingi didn’t need to know equine language to understand what Arion said. 

Knowing Arion and his pompous attitude, he knew it was mocking Hannibal. 

He smiled softly at Doyeon and pulled her to stand. “Let’s go Doyeon-ah, I have a bad feeling we’re running on a limited time.”

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellllllllllllo~ I’m back from pits of Tartarus~~
> 
> This chap took so long (4 mos to be exact) and it’s funny that this POV wasn’t even part of the plan (or the 6 drafts that I have been WIP-ing for those 4 mos). And it’s actually funny. This past week, I have been working on this chap and it just didn’t feel right, until an idea came to mind (inspired by Mingi & Kenta’s I’m the Best duet on To.Night) and thought, wait - why not try it in Mingi’s pov? Sure, his grand entrance will be thrown in Tartarus (gdocs trash) but, what if it it works? And it did 🥺 IT WORKED 🤧
> 
> It worked and fitted so well that I don’t even have any lingering feelings on throwing the 6 WIP - IL&D CH.5 COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY in the trash (I’m kidding, I’ll be reusing them 😂) and I am just so happy and very very satisfied ❤️ I was quite worried on how to show the roman demigods side of the story & Jonghyun’s life in Camp Jupiter before they arrived with the prophecy - and now all those problems are solved 😂
> 
> (Thank so much Mingi and Kenta ❤️) 
> 
> *deep relieved sigh* phew. Now, let’s get on with the glossary, yeah? 😂
> 
> This will be short, bc I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story so it would be just the powers that have been mentioned and some, weapons and an - uhm, elephant 😂
> 
> Hannibal - an elephant that lives in Camp Jupiter, and is taken care of by the Roman demigods that live there.
> 
> Doyeon's power/ability:  
> Geokinesis - ability to find any underground caves, tunnels, trapdoors, cause earthquakes, and change their shapes, manipulate it, or destroy them. 
> 
> Ferrokinesis - Ability to sense and summon precious metals from under the ground (or wherever) as well as manipulate them, and change its shape.
> 
> Jonghyun's power/ability:  
> Necromancy - control over the dead, as well as many monsters native to Hades' realm.
> 
> Umbrakinesis - control over darkness and shadows for various uses such as solidifying it for attacks and to hide in it.
> 
> Note: This isn't all their powers/ability and I had edited it to suit the story XD
> 
> Taeyong's Weapon: IVLIVS (turns into a golden sword on heads and a golden javelin on tails when flipped.) & Gladius (Sword).
> 
> That's all~~  
> Please love and support this fic and thank you for patiently waiting~

**Author's Note:**

> Based on Rick Riordan’s Demigods series (PJO & HoO). The characters’ (their abilities & etc) were edited & changed, along with scenes from the book to suit the story. ❤️ I mean no harm ✌️and thanks Rick Riordan and [Riordan Wiki](https://riordan.fandom.com/wiki/Riordan_Wiki) for making this au possible. Also, Solangelo - bc without those two, this wouldn’t happen. ❤️
> 
> Sporadic updates ✌️


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